Artemis Fowl: Reprieve
by Lli
Summary: A short piece that takes place directly after the events of Artemis Fowl: Nearing Perfection. Holly takes a vacation and finds herself in love with a co-worker. In the mean time, Artemis learns to be gracious a little too late.


As promised, here is the filler story between AF: Nearing Perfection and AF: As Of Yet Untitled. Fair warning: if you're homophobic this is not the fic for you.

As always a huge thank you to ilex-ferox for being the world's most wonderful beta.

* * *

**Artemis Fowl: Reprieve**

Reprieve: to give relief or deliverance for a time.

**8:00pm, May 7th, INA offices, Inari-yama, Kyoto**

"I'm staying here for a while," Holly explained. "Paperwork. You know."

"Paperwork?" Artemis echoed.

"Yes. Well, and Koko says she'll try to teach me to morph like she does. Wouldn't that be handy?" Holly grinned. "But don't tell anyone. Officially, I'm here for paperwork."

"Your secret is safe with me." Artemis looks past Holly to where Kokoro is chatting with Longnu. _It's 'Koko' now, is it?_

"Just one more to add to the pile, I guess," the elf laughed.

"They're all safe with me." His voice grew low and serious.

She looked up at him, quirking an eyebrow at his sudden change in mood. "I know they are, Artemis. I trust you."

He looked down at her for a moment. "I should be on my way," he said suddenly. "Where has Butler got to? Probably making another stir-fry. I swear, that man would cook dinner for the whole country if one let him."

And just like that, before Holly could say anything else, Artemis was gone.

* * *

In all fairness, Holly did do quite a bit of paperwork. Processing a case that involved several fairies presumed dead for several millenia was bound to take some time. For the most part, however, she spent her days with Kokoro. It worked out well for both of them: Kokoro kept Holly busy with practice and Holly kept Kokoro busy enough to forget her broken heart.

After a month Holly could change her arms into wings; after two she could change her head into a bird's; after three Kokoro (looking for all world like a trendy Japanese twenty-something) drove her up into the low mountains outside Kyoto.

She took Holly by the hand and they hiked up to a plateau among the trees. There was a shrine there to Inari and a view of the city that took Holly's breath away. Kokoro lit some incense and left five yen in the tin and smiled self-consciously.

"They're lucky. The coins, I mean," she explained a little sheepishly. Holly returned her smile.

Taking a deep breath, Holly stepped up to the edge of the plateau. She hesitated.

"Don't worry," said Kokoro. "I'll catch you. I do a very good eagle."

Holly laughed and, laughing, jumped.

The ground fell away with startling speed. For a moment, Holly's stomach dropped and she wobbled in the air. But flying was what she was best at. She rose on the warm breeze, revelling in the strength of her hawk wings. She dove and rose and dove again, circling Kokoro in a blur of brown and grey. The _k__istune _laughed, applauding.

Holly landed in a rush of feathers and wind, growing legs as she neared the ground. By the time she reached Kokoro she was once more her own self. The force of her landing propelled her forward and the other fairy caught as she had promised. Holly looked up at her and, full of joy, kissed her.

A group of hikers arrived on the plateau in time for the sunset. As they watched the sun sink in a glory of red and gold, they noticed a hawk and an eagle chasing each other across the sky. They pointed and took pictures and marvelled at their luck.

* * *

"What do you need, Short?" Absence had not made Root's heart grow fonder.

Holly chose her words carefully. "I'd like authorisation for my vacation. I have several months of saved time, plus the two months from this year. I'd like to take them now."

Root raised an eyebrow. "_You _want to take a vacation?"

"Er, yes."

"Short, you hate vacations. I have to threaten you with a psychiatrist just to get you to take a weekend off, and now you want six months' worth? What's going on, Major?"

"Nothing, sir. Nothing…I just…I've met someone and…"

"Is Fowl up to something?"

"What? Artemis? No. At least, I don't think so."

"So this isn't a cover for some harebrained scheme of his?"

"No, sir. I actually want vacation time."

"Because you've met someone."

"Yes."

"Someone over there."

"Yes."

Root eyed his officer for a moment. "How's this, Short: you promise to take your two months off now and then I'll loan you to INARe until the Summer Solstice? Commander Kuzu's been asking about keeping you longer anyway."

Holly smiled. "Thank you, sir," she said.

Root grumbled threateningly and waved a finger at her. "Just so long as you come back, you hear me, Short? I'm not loosing my best pilot to a bunch of Orientals."

* * *

_Bing._

Holly groaned

_Bing._

"Coming. I'm coming…"

_Bing._

"Ugh, yes?"

"Good evening, Holly."

"Artemis." Holly rubbed sleep from her face. "Artemis, do you know what time it is here?"

"I believe it is quarter to six in the evening."

"Exactly. What on earth is so important that you had to call at quarter to six?"

Artemis looked extremely innocent. "I was simply trying to catch you at breakfast – usually you're up by now."

"I'm on holiday, Artemis. I've been on holiday for a week. And don't tell me you didn't know that, your tendency for hacking internal LEP correspondence is well documented."

Artemis made a silent moue of consternation. If Holly didn't know him better, she'd have accused him of pouting. "You've moved," he said, changing the subject.

Holly sighed. Next to her, Kokoro groaned softly, beginning to wake up. "Yes, Artemis," she said, feeling defensive all of a sudden. "I've moved. You could tell by the shadows on the ceiling or something?"

"Or something," he smiled.

"It just made more sense logistically," she found herself beginning to ramble. "And it's been a few months so we thought it was the logical next step and Kok—"

"Actually, you know, Holly," Artemis interrupted her, "I really shouldn't have woken you. I'm terribly sorry. I'll let you get back to sleep."

"Wha—okay. Okay, I guess. I mean, I'm awake now."

"No, no, I'm sure you have things to do."

"Well, call me later, alright? In a few hours maybe?"

"Oh," Artemis waved a breezy hand, "I'm afraid I can't. Mother is having this elaborate charity ball tonight and I must go back down and be helpful, I'm afraid. I'm shirking my responsibilities as it is."

"Oh. Well, what about after everyone goes?"

Artemis shrugged, looking past from the camera at something. "I may go with them."

It took Holly a moment to process the implications of that. "Oh," she said again. "Well, okay then. Just, well, later...when you have time. It's been a while."

He turned back to her. "It has," he agreed. He swallowed and looked about to say more when, abruptly, he changed his mind. "Have a good night, Major," he said, and cut the connection.

Holly blinked, feeling slightly stung. Catching sight of her reflection in the dark screen she realised she was pouting.

"Good conversation?" Kokoro asked, her voice very even.

Holly turned back to her lover. "No," she said frowning. "Odd, actually. I think something's bothering him."

Kokoro looked unsympathetic. "I'm sure he'll get over it. How do you feel about waffles?"

Holly let herself be distracted.

* * *

_Bing._

"Nnngh."

_Bing._

"For the love of…"

_Bing._

"Hello, Artemis. Is this what you call a more reasonable hour?"

"Well, it's quarter past six this time."

Holly sighed, running a hand through her unruly hair. "Of course, what was I thinking?" But it had been a week since she'd seen him and she smiled. "How are you? How was your mother's do?"

"Oh, fine, fine. It was fine. And yourself?"

"I'm well. I'm really starting to get the hang of this whole morphing thing. I can do a hawk and a fox now. I'm hoping to be able to look human by the end of the month."

Artemis looked mildly impressed. "Congratulations. I'm sure that will come in very handy for work."

"Definitely." Holly smiled at him. "Not to mention that now I can come visit without worrying."

He smiled. "That would be nice."

"I have to be back to Haven by the Summer Solstice. I'll try to drop by the Manor. It's…more or less…on the way." She grinned at him.

"More or less," agreed Artemis, his smile fading. "You're staying there until the Summer Solstice then?"

"Yeah, something like that. The details still have to be ironed out."

"I see. It seems to be agreeing with you; you look…well. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. Staying until Solstice. Well. Isn't that something?" He licked his lips.

Kokoro popped her head around the bedroom door frame. "Holly, I—" She eyed Artemis. "Do you have a minute?" she asked. Holly got the distinct impression that the _kitsune _was talking to Artemis and not to her.

"Sure, just one—"

"My apologies, Holly, but actually I'm afraid I really must dash," Artemis interrupted her. "So sorry, but Butler's calling."

"What?" Holly turned back to him, "Already? But we only just started talking." She waved a finger at him. "One of these days we're going to have a proper conversation, Artemis."

"One of these days," he agreed. Once again, Holly had the feeling that he wasn't talking to her at all. "Goodbye, Holly."

"Bye Ar—" But he was already gone.

* * *

_Bing._

"Hello?"

"I thought I would try a more civilised hour this time."

"You're so good to me. How are you?"

"Oh, as well as can be expected. Yourself?"

"Great. Yesterday I was a metre and a half tall for three hours!"

"I'm terribly impressed."

"Thank you." She grinned at him.

"You're really enjoying yourself over there, aren't you?"

She nodded. "I am. I'm…I'm really happy."

"Good," he said. "That's good."

They were silent for a moment. Artemis looked away and then back again, his face drawn. "Holly, I've been meaning to ask…"

"Yes, Artemis?"

"I—what does INARe stand for?"

Holly blinked. She had been preparing for the worst. "What does—it...uh...Intra-Nippon Authority Reconnaissance. There's also INAMed for emergency medical and INARet for their Retrieval department."

"How fascinating. Thank you, that's been bothering me for months."

"No problem." She frowned at him. Surely he could have just looked that up?

Down the hall, the front door slammed. Holly could hear the clunk of Kokoro's boots coming off. Artemis had cocked his head and she knew he had heard it too.

"I should go," he said, looking down as though checking his watch.

"Oh, no, stay." Holly looked down the hall then back to him. "Stay, Artemis, please. You keep rushing off."

"Next time," he promised. "It was good to see you, Holly."

"I—you too, Artemis," she said.

Kokoro came into the kitchen as Holly shut off the communication console. The kitsune eyed the blank screen for a second but said nothing.

Holly felt the unreasonable urge to explain herself. "It was just—"

But Kokoro didn't seem to care. She interrupted Holly with a kiss and smiled and said, "How do you feel about soba for dinner?"

"Great," Holly said feebly and bit her lip.

* * *

_Bing._

"Hello! Perfect timing," Holly brushed her fringe out of her eyes as she settled herself in front of the apartment's communication console. "Kokoro just left for work."

"Yes, my timing does seems to be improving," he said with an enigmatic smile. "I have some news you might be interested in. It's concerning Juliet."

Holly propped her chin in her hands. "Regale me," she said, "I've got all day."

"Excellent," he said, and his smile became positively carnivorous.

Kokoro and Holly sat with their dinners on a low table before them, watching a sitcom. As the end credits rolled, Holly turned to Kokoro. "How's your new cubicle-mate from up north working out? Kurobae says he and Fukunaka went out for drinks with him the other night and he's hilarious."

"Yeah, he's all right," Kokoro said. "I like him. And he is funny."

"How so?"

"Oh, you know, just tells good jokes." Kokoro grinned at her and held up the remote. "You want to watch another episode?"

"Um...sure," said Holly. "I suppose so."

"I heard the next one's supposed to be really good."

Holly nodded and played idly with her food.

* * *

_Bing._

"Hello again. Twice in three days, you're spoiling me, Artemis."

He smiled at her fondly. "Making up for lost time," he said.

Holly laughed. "Well good, because I took this vacation under duress and I am _so bored_!"

"Don't you go out?"

"Oh, sure," said Holly. "I went out yesterday and saw some sights by nightfall. Practised being human. I'm very good at it now by the way."

"Congratulations," he said. "Are you on your way out again now? I wouldn't want to keep you."

"Oh no," Holly shrugged. "All the castles will still be there tomorrow."

"As will I," Artemis pointed out.

"Don't tempt fate, Artemis," she said with a smile. Rising from her seat she said, "I'm just going to go and put the kettle on but keep talking. What's new at the Manor?"

"From two days ago?" Artemis asked, laughing a little.

"Yes. I want all the sordid gossip."

"Well," Artemis stroked his chin. "There's a rumour going around that one of the cooks is sleeping with Mother's French maid."

"Ooh," said Holly and laughed as she filled the kettle. "Do tell."

And so he did. They were still talking when the front door thudded shut, hours later. Artemis looked down at his watch.

"Good lord, that late already. How time flies. So sorry, must go, Holly, lovely to see you."

"Wait, Artemis, I—" But he was gone. Holly frowned at the darkened screen.

* * *

_Bing._

"You know, you really shouldn't be calling me at work."

He sighed dramatically. "Yes, I know. I thought I'd live dangerously."

She smiled.

"Are you enjoying being back?"

"Immensely," she admitted.

"I thought as much."

They said nothing for a moment.

"I kind of..." Holly trailed off then shrugged. "I kind of miss talking to you though. I haven't seen you all week."

He grinned toothily at her. "Oh do you now, Major?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Don't be a prat," she said.

His smile became smaller and kinder. "I'll call you when you get off work tomorrow," he said. "I've missed you too."

"I'd like that," she said. "Kokoro's got a calligraphy class after work so..." she paused. So what? "So we'll have the house to ourselves," she finished cautiously.

"Yes, I know," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She nodded and smiled. It wasn't until he was gone that she paused in her paperwork.

"Wait," she said aloud, "how did he know that?"

* * *

"Do you want to go out for a hike tomorrow? Who knows when we'll both get the same day off again." Holly propped herself on her elbows and looked down at Kokoro.

The _kistune _snuggled deeper into her pillow. "I've actually got a whole bunch of errands to do tomorrow. But maybe tomorrow morning when everything's done we can have dinner and watch a movie?"

"Okay," said Holly. "Do you want to go out to see something?"

"Nah, let's just stay in. I'm exhausted from that smuggling palaver."

"Right," said Holly as she lay back down. "Right. Let's just stay in then."

* * *

_Bing._

"Hello, Artemis." Her smile grew just looking at him.

"Hello. And how are you today, Holly?"

"Wonderful, yourself?"

"Quite well, thank you. How's life at the office?"

"Oh, the usual. I don't want to talk about it. It's all anyone ever talks about."

"Fine with me. Did you hear there's to be a new shuttle line from Haven to Atlantis? They're building it for the next People's Games."

Holly scoffed. "I hadn't heard but, if it's true, then at least we're going to get one useful thing out of that ridiculous competition. You know we had to arrest people for handing out pamphlets against it? I nearly apologized to one of them, I felt so bad. The politicians get so uppity and say that sports will increase tourism and that this is a prestigious international event: all it's doing is costing Haven millions in tax-payers gold."

"And here I thought you would have been pro-Games. You like sports, don't you?"

Holly threw up her hands. "I like sports but those Games aren't even real anymore with all the doping charges and the bribery. That's not the point."

Holly continued on in this vein for a few hours before Artemis managed to steer her onto another topic. It felt good to talk she realised after he'd hung up.

* * *

"Great soup, Holly. You're really getting good at this whole cooking thing."

Holly grinned over her bowl at Kokoro. "Thank you. I thought I'd really let loose with this one. I added ginger to it though it didn't call for it."

"You're really living on the wild side, aren't you?" Kokoro chuckled.

"I like to keep things interesting," Holly agreed.

They ate for a few more minutes in silence.

"Sora reccommended a new show to me today," Kokoro said at last. "An old Mud Man mystery series. Something about a man with an egg-shaped head and a moustache and little grey cells. Anyway, Sora says it's great. She's sent us the files."

"Well, she has good taste in TV," Holly agreed.

"Yes, she does."

Holly stirred the dregs of her soup with her spoon while Kokoro heaped salad onto her plate.

"This is really good," Kokoro said again, when her salad was nearly gone.

"Thanks," said Holly and began stirring in the opposite direction.

Kokoro watched Holly from across the table and bit her lip. When Holly looked up, she looked down, busily tying to spear the last of her lettuce with her chopsticks.

* * *

"I'm afraid I have to interrupt your honeymoon, Short."

"I'm sorry, sir?" Holly looked up from her desk at the INARe headquarters.

"Something's come up in South America and I need you on it. It's not pretty."

"Not pretty, sir?"

Root shook his head. "More Old Ones. This time with blood sacrifices."

Holly's eyes widened. "Good gods…"

"I've talked to Commander Kuzu, he's alright with it. We need you on a shuttle tomorrow."

"Tomorrow, sir?" Holly repeated, her face falling.

"Yes. Tomorrow evening so at least you'll…you'll have a bit of time."

"I—thank you, sir." Holly knew he had done what he could but it did little to make her feel better.

Root fiddled with his cigar. "I've assigned you a partner for this one. A recent hire. I think you'll…get along."

Holly frowned. "With all due respect, sir, I don't need a partner. Especially not some green recruit."

"I didn't say they were green, Short. I hired them expressly because of their experience. And before you say something you'll regret to your commanding officer, why don't you just wait until you meet them?"

Holly reined in her frustration as best she could. "Of course, sir. My apologies, sir," she said tersely.

Root smiled almost fondly at her. "Foaly and I will brief you upon arrival, Short. Your partner is already up to speed. Good morning, Major."

"Good morning, sir."

As the screen went black, Holly let her head drop into her hands. _Kokoro_, she thought, and her heart was tight in her chest.

* * *

When Holly told Kokoro the news over dinner, Kokoro put down her chopsticks with great care. Delicately, she dabbed at the corners of her mouth with her napkin before laying it on the table and folding her paws in her hands. All of her movements were extremely precise. It was unlike her.

"We should break up."

Holly choked on her tofu. "Wh—excuse me? Why?"

Kokoro smiled ruefully. "It's for the best, Holly."

Holly put down her chopsticks as well. "Koko, what's going on? Are you—are you seeing someone else?"

"No! Frond, no. But this was never going to be for forever, Holly."

"Well, no, forever's a really long time. But a good fifty years wasn't out of the question. Koko, I don't understand."

Kokoro licked her lips, trying to compose herself without looking like she was composing herself. "We're too alike, Holly. If we stay together then ten years from now, twenty, we'll still be exactly as we are now; we won't have changed at all."

"So what? I'm happy with who I am now. I don't want to change."

Kokoro sighed. "No one is born perfect, Holly, but we should at least try for it. And stagnating is not the way to do that. Besides, we'll get bored. Hell, Holly, we're already bored. And I would rather break both our hearts now than have us drift away, uninterested and resentful, in a few decades. I want to be your friend. I want to still care for you. Forever."

"Friends," repeated Holly with heavy sarcasm. "Oh no, I get it. You just want to be friends. Look, that's fine, if you don't love me anymore then just—"

"No, I do. Holly, you're not listening. I love you but I want what's best for you. And that is something I can't give you."

"What has got into you?" Holly ran a hand through her hair. "All of a sudden you know what's best for me? Really? Look, okay, I have to go away, and it's really out of the blue, and you're feeling nervous about it. Fine. I get it. But why this? A few months isn't the end of the world."

"I know that, Holly. This isn't about the job."

"Then what is it about?!" Holly swiped at her eyes.

"I talked to Artemis last week."

"You what? Why? You hate Artemis. You two won't even acknowledge the fact that the other exists. You go out of your way to avoid each other even though you're already thousands of miles apart."

"I don't hate...well, maybe a—no, look, that's not the point."

"Then what is the poi—ohhh, he said something to you, didn't he? He said something to you to make you do this. He's manipulating you. Where's my communicator, I am going to—"

"No, Holly, he didn't say anything to manipulate me. He was very charming."

"Then he was definitely trying to manipulate you. Artemis is never charming unless he wants something. But, look, it doesn't matter. Sometimes he gets possessive because he doesn't have many friends and he thinks all friendships should be like him and Butler: exclusive. He's just jealous because he's not the most important person in my life right now. There was this one time, about a year or so ago, I was dating this sprite and—"

"He called to congratulate me."

"—then Artemis had him—sorry, what?"

"He called me to say that he was really glad that we were together because he'd never seen you so happy and content and he wants you to stay that way. He called to say, as he put it, that I had won."

"No." Holly shook her head vehemently. "Artemis would never say that. Never. Not even if he was bleeding out would he say that."

"Well, he did. And if he was trying to manipulate me then he did a good job, because we're breaking up."

"Because I'm too happy?"

"Yes. No. Because this," Kokoro gestured between herself and Holly, "this is not helping either of us. It did at first; it was exactly what we needed. But now we need something new. We both need to be challenged. Look at us: we never talk, we never do anything. I refuse to believe that this is as happy as we can get."

"Well, then, we should start talking. Doing things."

"I think we missed our chance, Holly."

"But I—" Abandoning her sentence, Holly stood up abruptly, came around the table, and slapped Kokoro.

"Ow! What the hell, Holly!"

"You said you wanted a challenge. You want to do something? Well, let's do something."

"Holly..." With a sigh, Kokoro shoved back her chair and stood. The elf went to hit her again and Kokoro let her. But by then Holly was crying too hard to see properly and her hand landed soft and useless and she didn't resist when Kokoro pulled her close. As Holly sobbed into her shoulder, Kokoro laid her cheek on Holly's hair and kept her eyes tightly shut, refusing to cry.

"I'm sorry, darling," whispered the _kitsune_. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

They lay on their futon, staring up at the ceiling. They had made love, but it had been a sad, desperate sort of thing and hadn't made them feel any better.

"You're right," said Holly without looking at her lover. "I hate it, but you're right."

"Don't worry, I'm not doing this because it makes me happy."

"I know. And that makes me hate it all the more." The elf rolled onto her side, propped her head in one hand, and looked down at Kokoro. Her expression was soft and sad. "Koko, I know you always thought that there was something going on with Artemis and me—"

"Holly, you don't need to—"

"No, I want this to be clear. I know you thought that and, while there is something there – something…unusual - I want you to know that, despite whatever that something is, I love you. I don't want you thinking I spent all this time just waiting for him, or something like that. I wanted...I still want...to be with you. I know, I get it, this isn't working out. But, in the beginning, I _was _happy and I'd never been so happy in my whole life. I don't know if I'll ever be that happy again. And that was all because of you. I want you to know that."

Kokoro smiled. "Thank you," she said. "That...thanks."

Holly leaned down, resting her forehead on Kokoro's. "I'm going to miss you," she whispered.

The other fairy managed a strangled laugh. "Oh, don't I know it." She wrapped her arms around her lover and they lay like that until they fell asleep.


End file.
